


Songs for the Deaf

by Lukas17



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Deaf Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21788863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lukas17/pseuds/Lukas17
Summary: Prompto was deaf. Been deaf for so long that he didn't remember what speech sounded like. It wasn't as bad as it sounded. Really the worst thing about being deaf was how hearing people reacted when they found out he was deaf. And how they failed to account for a deaf person even when he was there. And how they acted like he chose to be deaf for fun or something.Honestly hearing people in general were the worst part of being deaf.Though he supposed there always had to be exceptions to everything...
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 14
Kudos: 67





	Songs for the Deaf

**Author's Note:**

> So this was meant for a zine that fell through about a year ago. I kind of sat on it, because a lot of the people I tried showing it to didn't seem even a little bit interested in it. But it's been in my drafts for a while and if some people like it I might finish it.
> 
> This initial part was beta read by: Kitsune138, they're an amazing beta and I wish I could've worked with them to finish this.

Mrs. Ruby still tended to wave her arms overenthusiastically when she wanted his attention, but it was such a common occurrence that it didn’t draw the looks and jeers from his classmates as it once had. He shoved his sticks in their bag and walked over as the dismissal bell rang.

“Prompto!” She looked to yell. Her mouth opened up wide for him to read as if he were still ten. “Would. You. Like. To. Tutor?”

 _Who?_ He signed. She didn’t know much sign language, but it wasn’t a straight forward yes so she probably would get what he was saying.

“Nocts. From. Class. B.”

Prompto… almost said no. He didn’t know Noctis. No one really knew Noctis, and he was a little worried that there was a reason for it.

_Okay._

“Great! He. Needs. All. The. Help. He. Can. Get.” She pulled out a crumpled tutor slip from her beaten bag. “Tuesdays. And. Thursdays. Here. After. School.”

He gave a thumbs up, which she returned. Mrs. Ruby meant well, but sometimes she was a little too enthusiastic. Like she was compensating for something horrible she said to a deaf classmate twenty years ago. Today was just a better day than others.

The slip was simple. A brief instruction on where to meet and what class this was for; then a line for a parental signature. Since he still had two weeks before either of his parents would be back, he had to text them for permission to forge a signature before he set it in his counselor's box.

Tuesday came much like any other day. He went through classes, had a quiz, spent lunch doing his math homework which he turned in that next period. Mostly a good day, but it certainly could get worse depending on how Noctis was.

Noctis wasn’t sitting at the piano in the music room when he came in, but on the floor next to the percussion instruments half hidden behind the xylophones. Prompto didn’t know if he was trying to hide, or if he ended up behind there by some random series of events. Either way he was too far gone into a game on his phone to notice Prompto’s approach. Truly a feat unto itself, since Prompto couldn’t even hear his own footsteps.

He reached down and tapped Noctis on his shoulder, which resulted in Noctis jumping in his seat and clipping his shoulder on one of the keys. Prompto watched Noctis rub at his sore shoulder and groan, probably. Noctis wasn’t facing him, so Prompto could only guess on what he was saying, if he were saying anything at all. Prompto assumed he was, since when Noctis turned he had a very confused look on his face.

“You my tutor?”

He nodded and held his hand out. Noctis didn’t seem angry or put out from the little bump, just tired.

Before things got awkward he decided to head on over to the whiteboard and spell out the basics. His name, the fact that he was deaf, and what did Noctis need help on. Important stuff that Noctis barely seemed to react to. When Prompto turned around, his face was mostly neutral as his eyes scanned the words.

If Noctis had any sort of protests, he didn’t say anything that day. He pulled out an assignment sheet on minor scale octaves and they got to work on it.

Truth was it wasn’t a bad hour. Noctis didn’t interrupt to ask an awkward question or roll his eyes when Prompto wrote out everything on a piece of paper. He did hijack the piece of paper to write out his questions, because the crown prince apparently didn’t know about reading lips, but it was a minor inconvenience. This wasn’t a bad way to deal with things, though it was a little slow.

Prompto didn’t know how much exactly he helped. He knew there was some kind of process for students with tutors, and they could get replaced depending on how well the student improved. But Prompto didn’t hear anything about it after the first exams so he assumed Noctis was at least passing.

It was a safe assumption. At least until they got to inversions.

Inversions weren’t particularly difficult once someone got the hang of it. Noctis’ problem was that he didn’t get the hang of it. Noctis seemed to struggle with this just like he struggled with the scales or harmonics. His homework for that lesson was full of glaring mistakes as he attempted to brute force his way through before he gave up halfway through and just wrote gibberish.

Inversions were one of those weird things that were so simple that Prompto genuinely couldn’t figure out how to explain it in a way that their music professor hadn’t already used. He thought maybe repetition might work 

_Have you ever played King’s Knight?_ he wrote.

After a moment Noctis wrote back. _Yeah._

He played the main theme on the piano, then the inversion of that theme. That inversion played when the player’s team abandoned them during a story mission. Noctis would probably recognize it. He then wrote out the normal theme on the sheet. _Try to invert that._

That went a little better. He could see Noctis play both pieces in his head a few times before he tried to fill in the notes in on the sheet.

 _So, you play King’s Knight?_ Noctis wrote in the corner.

Noctis became much more chatty after that. He’d come into the music room with questions about music from video games and Prompto would answer them. Then they would raid dungeons together after lessons. That then evolved into going out for food, which then ended up with him going to Noctis’ apartment for more games and the occasional sleep over. Prompto couldn’t pin the exact day that he went from tutor to friend, or from friend to best friend. But he found out Noctis passed the winter quarter during an all night game session during the holiday.

\---

Prompto only knew of one other person who was deaf, a girl named Sadie who was a grade ahead of him. They weren’t friends, but they did share a mutual respect for one another as the only two deaf people in the school. Another kid was blind, but he was really popular and three grades lower than him, so he didn’t count for anything.

_There’s a place around the corner that’s hiring. _Sadie signed when they ran into each other in the hallway before lunch. He didn’t know why this was the first thing she signed. She normally was much more polite, and liked to do the usual useless pleasantries first.__

___So?_ _ _

___They’re hiring deaf people. It’s a deaf only shop._ She signed enthusiastically. _I don’t know what they sell though.__ _

She pulled out a pen and wrote the address down on the palm of his hand. Prompto didn’t know what to do with this knowledge. He didn’t technically need a job, nor did he want to get yelled at by people for not speaking. Despite that the restaurant wasn’t out of the way, so he stopped by. 

__You’re deaf?_ The woman signed. She had a small, kind smile on her face as her hands moved. _Do you have any experience?_ _

_No._

_Can you arrive on time? How much time do you have to work?_

_Yes. Twenty hours or so._

_You’re hired._ She signed. Prompto glanced behind her to the building still under construction. _Tentatively. We open in a month. Training is in two weeks. You complete it all and you’re hired as part time._

That was weirdly easy. Prompto wondered if hearing people had this easy of a time getting a job. The last place he interviewed at wouldn’t even pull out a pen and paper to talk, and he spent the ten minutes in an awkward silence trying to mime his answers. Not the greatest experience. 

__But these were nice people. The woman, Marie, was the one who trained the small group of part timers. Most of them were teenagers, some from other schools. They all met on the weekend for register training and a brief overview of the menu. Sadie was there, looking very proud in her apron as the woman showed them the menus. Next to each pizza was a series of small pictures with hands that showed how to sign the different toppings. Marie was very clear on how to handle customers. They could speak their orders if they wanted, but if they wanted to sign then staff had to be extra careful and helpful. The register had a screen that displayed the customer’s order as a back up, but she wasn’t certain that would be helpful._ _

___Hearing people hate to read._ She signed. That got a few smiles. _Be nice to them.__ _

__The chef was a very large man who signed quickly with precise jabs. He walked them through tossing the dough then told them to try and make their own pizzas. They were given free reign over the topping bar, so Prompto witnessed some interesting ideas. Sadie tossed sausage, onion, hot peppers, and apples on top of hers while another guy just did straight up pineapple. Prompto thought to make pineapple and olives, but then he saw the fruits and sweets at the other end and decided to make a dessert pizza._ _

__Training ended early in the afternoon, and he got a free pizza out of the entire deal. He honestly wasn’t expecting it all to go so well. It had been a long time since Prompto thought he could work a normal job at a restaurant. Even if they hired him he always assumed he’d be forced to scrub tables and clean up messes. It was nice to not be a hidden away grunt boy._ _

__His parents were home but they probably were going to sleep for another twenty four hours before they had the energy to do anything. So he brought the pizza with him to Noctis’ apartment. This was met with resounding approval as Noctis opened his door and immediately took the cardboard box from his hands._ _

__“This from your new job?” he asked as he opened it. “Nice.”_ _

__Yeah. We had training. What’ve you been doing? He signed. Noctis grabbed two plates from his cabinet then handed one over. Noctis didn’t know a lot of sign language yet so Prompto had to repeat himself and fingerspell ‘training’._ _

__“Sleeping mostly,” he said nonchalant-like. Prompto wasn’t even remotely surprised. Noctis was like a bear during winter half the time. “Told Ignis about this place though, he wants to try it when they open.”_ _

__Prompto grabbed the biggest slice before Noctis could take it. He knew of Ignis, sure, but he’d never met either him or Gladio. Truth was that he wasn’t too eager to. Whenever Noctis brought them up it was always to complain or mention who cleaned up around the place, so they didn’t seem that great._ _

__The next weeked Prompto showed up to training to find a large piano had been wheeled into the corner of the store. He had questions that he decided not to ask; only for them to be answered anyway when they all gathered around Marie._ _

___Does anyone know how to play?_ She gestured to the instrument. _Tryouts are on Wednesday. If you pass you’ll get a raise.__ _

__He glanced around to see if he could tell if someone was genuinely considering it. Everyone seemed quite content to not pay it much mind. They got on with mixing and proofing the dough. Then received a rough and dirty explanation of wine pairings._ _

__Another pizza to take home, this time to his actual home. Where he found his dad home at a decent time for once._ _

__His father was a skinny work-a-holic too meek for his own good. He made a lot of money at his job. Not necessarily by wheeling and dealing, but by doing so much work that everyone felt bad and gave him a promotion so he had more work to do._ _

__Prompto didn’t see him much these days._ _

___From your job?_ His dad signed. He made the mouth motions as he signed, mostly out of habit now then actual necessity._ _

___Yes, it’s spicy._ _ _

__His father, Rubrum, hurriedly grabbed a slice to eat as he watched the news. The actual content of the news wasn’t important, but the stock market readings they displayed near the bottom. When his father wasn’t working he was watching the numbers so that he was prepared for when he was working._ _

___You going to stick with this job?_ his father joked. _Or are you there for the free pizza?__ _

___Yes, I’m staying. In fact they’re looking for someone to play some music there._ _ _

___You going to do it?_ _ _

___Maybe._ _ _

___You should. I always love to see people’s reactions when they realize you’re a deaf pianist._ _ _

__He shrugged. His dad was always the one pushing for his music lessons as if he were living vicariously through Prompto. Honestly, it could have been way worse. Rubrum’s enthusiasm tended to be tempered by his mother, Maria._ _

__Prompto texted her that night about it. Her replies were a little sporadic since she was on a stakeout. But the general consensus was ‘do what you want, we can’t make decisions for you’. Not the most helpful reply with his father’s slight pushing, but he wasn’t necessarily expecting anything else._ _

__Wednesday he sat next to three full-time staff members as the fourth one played. The judge was a music professor from the college with the most impressive poker face he’d ever seen. She gave nothing away as the man played. It was a little unnerving; he tried to not let it make him nervous._ _

__The first guy who went, a server named Aaron, seemed nervous. His hands shook as he plucked at the keys with a jerky motion. Next Ariel, the assistant chef, went. Her hands were more steady but that’s all he had to go by._ _

__On his turn he sat down at the keys and took a moment to study the sheet music. He’d never played this particular piece before, but it was from a time that he was familiar with. He tapped his foot for a measure to get the tempo before starting to play._ _

__He honestly thought he’d get his usual bout of nervousness as he played through the piece. In the past he’d get stage fright right in the middle of a recital and second guess himself for the rest of the piece. He’d progressed well from the first time it’d happened when he was seven, but it never went away until now. Now there were only a few people listening to him play, and only one of them could actually hear all the notes. He let himself enjoy the feel of playing. Then quietly excused himself to sit back in his seat when he was done._ _

__After the last person was done they all went back to training while the the judge pulled them aside individually to speak with them._ _

_You were good. How long have you been playing?_ she signed. It was a little difficult to follow her. Most of what she did was fingerspell with the occasional, simple sign. 

_Since I was five. He signed back._

_How did they teach you tempo and meter?_

_My teacher used to keep time by tapping my shoulder, he signed. I also had a metronome I’d use to practice._

_Do you normally play in front of others?_

_Not much anymore._

_Well I think you’d be a good performer, but I would suggest paying attention to your dynamics. There were points in the piece that you should have played louder. Marie wants me to sit down and practice with everyone one hour a week. Can you do Saturday mornings before we open?_

__Prompto was very, very close to declining. He didn’t want to wake up early and come here on one of his two days off. But unfortunately his arms were not connected to the smart part of his brain. He signed yes, and confirmed the practice slot for ten in the morning very unwillingly._ _

__His father was very, very happy for him. So happy that he took a rare hour off of work to meet for dinner after Prompto’s training to get burgers at a greasy spoon near his office. His mother texted him several times that she was happy for him, but she was busy with a case and probably wouldn’t really be able to see him until whenever she solved it._ _

__\---_ _

__Opening night and Prompto spent his first six hours at a real job as a server. He’d come into that shift feeling like a rock had sunk to the bottom of his stomach. Seeing that he had to speak with hearing people, with a lot of hearing people, almost made him want to quit on the spot. But he showed up because he told everyone he was working there, and they all had made promises to come see him. So he had to stick around. If not for Marie, then because he didn’t want a lecture from his mother when he got home._ _

_Hello._ The girls signed clumsily. Both of them looked at the sheet of simple signs more then him, but he wasn’t put out by that. _How are you?_

_I’m good. Drinks?_

Both of their gazes dropped immediately to the menu and they nervously signed: _Coffee. Water._

__He grabbed their drinks and tried to ignore the feeling that this entire venture was going to go down in flames in a week. No one wanted to do all the work of signing just to get a drink._ _

__Prompto didn’t have much time to consider just how wrong he would be when his entire section was full just a half hour after they opened. He’d never considered the possibility that the place would be popular nor did he feel even remotely prepared for it. If he wasn’t taking orders he was refilling drinks, bringing food out, trying to sidestep an unattended toddler, the works._ _

__Thankfully it was busy enough that he didn’t notice the passage of time until he spied Noctis with the hostess. By then it had already taken two of his breaks so he couldn’t sit with them, but his section was empty enough that he could ask they be sat there._ _

__He brought out a pizza to a couple that clearly were not enjoying whatever conversation they were having before returning to Noctis. Noctis, true to his word, had brought Ignis and Gladio along and it was clear which was which thanks to Noctis’ detailed descriptions. Only Noctis would describe his sworn shield as a giant teddy-bear with a knife in his boot but that was the phrase that popped in Prompto’s mind when he saw the man._ _

_These them?_ He asked. 

_Yup. Tall one’s Gladio, less tall one is Iggy. Can we have the meat special? I told Iggy I’d eat something with vegetables but he doesn’t sign._

__Simple enough. Noctis was doing stuff like that all the time. Ignis would leave a dinner with a side salad and Noctis would pointedly eat around every bit of green he saw. Sometimes he’d tried to get Prompto to eat it, but the only dressing Ignis ever left was a ranch dressing which Prompto felt didn’t belong on salads or on eos. Prompto jotted down the order then rushed over to bring someone else’s food out before it got cold._ _

__After that he headed to the server’s station for a much needed drink break. His feet were sore and his back ached, but glancing at the clock showed that it was just an hour until closing and since he didn’t have to stay to clean up he could just head home. He debated ordering a slice with his employee discount when someone tapped him on his shoulder._ _

__Getting tapped on his shoulder wasn’t anything new, but he was so caught up in the thought of freedom that he ended up jumping anyway. His head whipped around and he saw Ignis standing behind him; hands raised to placate him._ _

__It was clear Ignis didn’t really appreciate Noctis trying to pull one over on him because he jerkily signed for a vegetarian pizza. But Prompto wasn’t going to make this easy for him. He pointed to Ignis then held his hands close together parallel as the non-deaf way of asking if this was a small, personal pizza. Ignis seemed to fluster a bit before trying the sign again and holding his arms out as the non-deaf sign for big then made the sign for the meat lovers and shook his head. Prompto made the non-deaf sign for big then vegetarian then big then meat which made Ignis even more flustered. And around and around they went a few more times before Prompto pretended that he was just now understanding what Ignis was asking and wrote it on the ticket._ _

__Honestly it was the second most fun thing he’d done that evening. The first most fun thing he did was bring out that vegetarian pizza to Noctis. Prompto maybe took too much joy in watching Noctis’ face go from excited to downright dread at the sight of mushrooms and tomatoes on a whole wheat crust._ _

_Ignis figured it out._

__Noctis looked close to crying, even more so when Gladio burst out laughing and Ignis said something Prompto failed to lipread._ _

__Prompto checked on them a few times throughout their meal which went about as well as expected. Noctis barely choked down one slice, which seemed to appease Ignis somewhat since he signed for an ice cream during Prompto’s last pass by._ _

__Noctis consumed the ice cream like a man starved. They made plans to meet up the next day as Prompto dropped off the check. They left just fifteen minutes before closing._ _

__Prompto spent those last fifteen minutes cleaning. There were a number of pizzas that customers had sent back for dumb reasons and Marie let him take one of them home. It had gone cold but Prompto wasn’t going to let that stop him._ _

__A few blocks into his twenty minute walk home he spotted his parent’s car heading up the road. It stopped near the curb where he stood and the passenger window rolled down to reveal his mother._ _

_Sorry we missed your opening sweetie._ She signed. He got into the back seat of the car and almost sat on a small cake by doing so. _We got that for you to celebrate._

__Honestly Prompto could never be mad at his parents. Sure they missed a lot of things, but when they showed up with strawberry cake it was hard to feel like they didn’t care._ _

__\---_ _

__If Insomnia weren’t full of politicians, celebrities, and philanthropists then news of the Crown Prince’s new favorite pizza place would be newsworthy. But between boy #5 of The Generic Boyband ordering sandwiches at some artisanal bakery and Anabelle Model frequenting a new vegan take out place Noctis’ dietary habits weren’t all that noteworthy. Even if they were he didn’t frequent the place nearly as often as Ignis._ _

__Sometimes Ignis stopped by after work and ordered a slice with some wine. Other nights he took it to go. One morning he came in, clearly hungover, wearing a jacket and jeans two sizes too big and downed a pitcher of water. Ignis was rarely there for Noctis’ sake since Noctis typically got his fix when Prompto brought one with him for game night._ _

__Ignis was actually pretty interesting. The way Noctis spoke of him Prompto thought Ignis was just some boring fuddy-duddy who’s hobbies included nagging and cooking. Every once in a while Noctis was nice and said something positive about Ignis always being there for him, but more often he was complaining about being woken up early and having to eat a cucumber._ _

__They normally ended up talking while Ignis waited for his food. First it was mostly passing a piece of paper back and forth as Prompto waited on customers. Conversations were mostly on Noctis or Ignis’ surprising pizza addiction then went onto more personal things. Ignis lived with his uncle, had an entire shelf of vintage horror movies he’d collected, and his friend Delilah had gotten him blackout drunk at least twice a month since they both turned eighteen. Prompto talked about his parents, a game he was planning on making over the summer break, and his plans to apply for med school after he graduated. Pleasant things that were fun to learn about one another._ _

__When Ignis decided to learn sign it became a sudden jump backwards and forwards in their relationship. Ignis didn’t really know any words at first so their signed conversations were really simple. But he’d learn new words and come back eager to try them. Prompto didn’t know what to think of it at first. Ignis seemed to put a lot of work into learning a language that he only used to order pizza._ _

__In hindsight that was one of many signs. Glaringly obvious. But Prompto’s social perception was just about as good as his hearing so it was a definite surprise to get off from work late one night to find that Ignis was still in his little corner booth nursing what had to be the same soda Prompto gave him an hour ago. Ignis got up and approached him while Prompto waited for his breadsticks to be wrapped up._ _

__Prompto didn’t pay him much mind until Ignis tapped him on the shoulder. Up close like this he was able to notice just how nervous Ignis was. The way he blushed and hesitated for a moment. Ignis’ hands trembled just a bit as he signed._ _

_Date with me maybe?_

__Honestly Prompto was so surprised he didn’t even think to correct Ignis or really even think to respond at first. The question felt like a curveball thrown at him by some careless baseball player while he walked down the road._ _

_You don’t have to answer right now._ Ignis furiously signed. He then pushed a piece of paper into Prompto’s hand. _Call me if you’d like._

__Ignis left so quickly Prompto thought that he’d dreamed it. But he didn’t. He stuffed the number in his pocket and decided not to think about it until he got home._ _

__At home he set the paper on his desk and pondered throwing it away. He’d never dated before, but he didn’t know if he wanted to date Ignis. Dating Ignis felt like it would be like dating Noctis’ mom. And what if they broke up? Prompto wasn’t so sure he wanted to risk the relationships he already had for a relationship he didn’t know he wanted. So he took the slip with the phone number and shoved it in his desk drawer for him to think about._ _

__It never crossed his mind to ask Noctis or his parents their opinions. Honestly he didn’t think they’d be much help. His mother would just inform him that it was his choice as if that weren’t obvious and his father would say that he should find a nice deaf person to date. Noctis might not like the idea of him dating Ignis, but he also expected that Noctis would be respectful enough to not put up a fuss. And it’s not like Ignis was always around, Prompto rarely saw him when he was hanging out with Noctis. Sometimes he’d drop things off, but he mostly handled the cleaning and cooking when Noctis was in school._ _

__The decision impulsively made after a week of thought. He woke up one Friday, pulled out his phone and texted Ignis._ _

_You free Saturday night?_

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I might not continue this at all given how many italics I have to code by hand.


End file.
